Scientists warn of link between dangerous new
pathogen and Monsanto’s Roundup
Urges USDA to rescind approval of genetically engineered alfalfa: “In layman’s
terms, it should be treated as an emergency.”
By Rady Ananda
Food Freedom
A plant pathologist experienced in protecting against biological warfare recently warned
the USDA of a new, self-replicating, micro-fungal virus-sized organism which may be
causing spontaneous abortions in livestock, sudden death syndrome in Monsanto’s
Roundup Ready soy, and wilt in Monsanto’s RR corn.
Dr. Don M. Huber, who coordinates the Emergent Diseases and Pathogens committee of
the American Phytopathological Society, as part of the USDA National Plant Disease
Recovery System, warned Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that this pathogen
threatens the US food and feed supply and can lead to the collapse of the US corn and soy
export markets. Likewise, deregulation of GE alfalfa “could be a calamity,” he noted in
his letter (reproduced in full below).
On January 27, Vilsack gave blanket approval to all genetically modified alfalfa.
Following orders from President Obama, he also removed buffer zone requirements. This
is seen as a deliberate move to contaminate natural crops and destroy the organic meat
and dairy industry which relies on GM-free alfalfa. Such genetic contamination will give
the biotech industry complete control over the nation’s fourth largest crop. It will also
ease the transition to using GE-alfalfa as a biofuel.
“My letter to Secretary Vilsack was a request to allocate necessary resources to
understand potential nutrient-disease interactions before making (in my opinion) an
essentially irreversible decision on deregulation of RR alfalfa,” Huber told Food Freedom
in an email.
But, he cautions:
“Although the organism has been associated with infertility and spontaneous abortions in
animals, associations are not always evidence of cause in all cases and do not indicate
what the predisposing conditions might be. These need to be established through
thorough investigation which requires a commitment of resources.
“I hope that the Secretary will make such a commitment because many
growers/producers are experiencing severe increases in disease of both crops and animals
that are threatening their economic viability.”
On Feb. 16, Paul Tukey of SafeLawn telephoned Dr. Huber who told him, “I believe
we’ve reached the tipping point toward a potential disaster with the safety of our food
supply. The abuse, or call it over use if you will, of Roundup, is having profoundly bad
consequences in the soil. We’ve seen that for years. The appearance of this new pathogen
may be a signal that we’ve gone too far.”
Tukey also conveyed that while Huber admits that much further study is needed to
definitively confirm the link between Round-Up and the pathogen, “In the meantime, he
said, it’s grossly irresponsible of the government to allow Roundup Ready alfalfa, which
would bring the widespread spraying of Roundup to millions of more acres and introduce
far more Roundup into the food supply.”
Huber, who has been studying plant pathogens for over 50 years and glyphosate for over
20 years, has noticed an increase in pathogens associated with the herbicide. In an
interview with the Organic and Non-GMO Report last May, he discussed his team’s
conclusions that glyphosate can, “significantly increase the severity of various plant
diseases, impair plant defense to pathogens and diseases, and immobilize soil and plant
nutrients rendering them unavailable for plant use.”
Sudden Death Syndrome in soy where the right field was sprayed the previous year with
glyphosate (Iowa, 2010. Photo by Don Huber)
This is because “glyphosate stimulates the growth of fungi and enhances the virulence of
pathogens.” [Image] In the last 15-18 years, the number of plant pathogens has increased,
he told the Non-GMO Report. “There are more than 40 diseases reported with use of
glyphosate, and that number keeps growing as people recognize the association (between
glyphosate and disease).”
In his undated letter to the USDA, Huber highlighted “the escalating frequency of
infertility and spontaneous abortions over the past few years in US cattle, dairy, swine,
and horse operations.” He reported that spontaneous abortions occurred in nearly half the
cattle where high concentrations of the pathogen were found in their feed. Huber notes
that the wheat “likely had been under weed management using glyphosate.”
Other Research Supports Huber’s Warning
Last year, Argentine scientists found that Roundup causes birth defects in frogs and
chickens. Publishing their paper, “Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Produce Teratogenic
Effects on Vertebrates by Impairing Retinoic Acid Signaling,” in Chemical Research in
Toxicology, Alejandra Paganelli, et al. also produced a large set of reports for the public
at GMWatch:
“In Argentina and Paraguay, doctors and residents living in GM soy producing areas have
reported serious health effects from glyphosate spraying, including high rates of birth
defects as well as infertility, stillbirths, miscarriages, and cancers. Scientific studies
collected in the new report confirm links between exposure to glyphosate and premature
births, miscarriages, cancer, and damage to DNA and reproductive organ cells.”
One of the researchers, Andrés Carrasco, told GM Watch, “The findings in the lab are
compatible with malformations observed in humans exposed to glyphosate during
pregnancy.”
When trying to present these findings to the public in August of last year, Dr. Carrasco
and the audience were attacked by 100 thugs who beat them and their cars with clubs,
leaving one person paralyzed, Amnesty International reported. Local police and a
wealthy GM rice grower were implicated in that attack.
In a 2009 study, researchers linked organ damage with consumption of Monsanto’s GM
maize, based on Monsanto’s trial data. As we reported last year, Gilles-Eric Séralini, et
al., concluded that the raw data from all three GMO studies reveal that novel pesticide
residues will be present in food and feed and may pose grave health risks to those
consuming them.
In a 2005 paper published in Environmental Health Perspectives, Sophie Richard, et al.
compared the toxicity of Roundup with that of just glyphosate, its active ingredient. They
found Roundup to be more toxic, owing to its adjuvants. They also found that endocrine
disruption increased over time so that one-tenth the amount prescribed for agriculture
caused cell deformation. Citing other research, they also reported that Roundup adjuvants
bond with DNA.
Such negative findings probably explain why Monsanto and other biotech firms so
vociferously block independent research.
Tom Laskawy at Grist estimated that in 2008, nearly 200 million pounds of glyphosate
were poured onto US soils. But, he notes that “exact figures are a closely guarded secret
thanks to the USDA’s refusal to update its pesticide use database after 2007.” This figure
more than doubles what the EPA estimates was used in 2000.
Below is Dr. Huber’s full letter, graciously provided to me by Paul Tukey:
Dear Secretary Vilsack:
A team of senior plant and animal scientists have recently brought to my attention the
discovery of an electron microscopic pathogen that appears to significantly impact the
health of plants, animals, and probably human beings. Based on a review of the data, it is
widespread, very serious, and is in much higher concentrations in Roundup Ready (RR)
soybeans and corn—suggesting a link with the RR gene or more likely the presence of
Roundup. This organism appears NEW to science!
This is highly sensitive information that could result in a collapse of US soy and corn
export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies. On the
other hand, this new organism may already be responsible for significant harm (see
below). My colleagues and I are therefore moving our investigation forward with speed
and discretion, and seek assistance from the USDA and other entities to identify the
pathogen’s source, prevalence, implications, and remedies.
We are informing the USDA of our findings at this early stage, specifically due to your
pending decision regarding approval of RR alfalfa. Naturally, if either the RR gene or
Roundup itself is a promoter or co-factor of this pathogen, then such approval could be a
calamity. Based on the current evidence, the only reasonable action at this time would be
to delay deregulation at least until sufficient data has exonerated the RR system, if it
does.
For the past 40 years, I have been a scientist in the professional and military agencies that
evaluate and prepare for natural and manmade biological threats, including germ warfare
and disease outbreaks. Based on this experience, I believe the threat we are facing from
this pathogen is unique and of a high risk status. In layman’s terms, it should be treated as
an emergency.
A diverse set of researchers working on this problem have contributed various pieces of
the puzzle, which together presents the following disturbing scenario:
Unique Physical Properties
This previously unknown organism is only visible under an electron microscope
(36,000X), with an approximate size range equal to a medium size virus. It is able to
reproduce and appears to be a micro-fungal-like organism. If so, it would be the first such
micro-fungus ever identified. There is strong evidence that this infectious agent promotes
diseases of both plants and mammals, which is very rare.
Pathogen Location and Concentration
It is found in high concentrations in Roundup Ready soybean meal and corn, distillers
meal, fermentation feed products, pig stomach contents, and pig and cattle placentas.
Linked with Outbreaks of Plant Disease
The organism is prolific in plants infected with two pervasive diseases that are driving
down yields and farmer income—sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soy, and Goss’ wilt in
corn. The pathogen is also found in the fungal causative agent of SDS (Fusarium solani
fsp glycines).
Implicated in Animal Reproductive Failure
Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of this organism in a wide variety of
livestock that have experienced spontaneous abortions and infertility. Preliminary results
from ongoing research have also been able to reproduce abortions in a clinical setting.
The pathogen may explain the escalating frequency of infertility and spontaneous
abortions over the past few years in US cattle, dairy, swine, and horse operations. These
include recent reports of infertility rates in dairy heifers of over 20%, and spontaneous
abortions in cattle as high as 45%.
For example, 450 of 1,000 pregnant heifers fed wheatlage experienced spontaneous
abortions. Over the same period, another 1,000 heifers from the same herd that were
raised on hay had no abortions. High concentrations of the pathogen were confirmed on
the wheatlage, which likely had been under weed management using glyphosate.
Recommendations
In summary, because of the high titer of this new animal pathogen in Round Ready
crops,[sic] and its association with plant and animal diseases that are reaching epidemic
proportions, we request USDA’s participation in a multi-agency investigation, and an
immediate moratorium on the deregulation of RR crops until the causal/predisposing
relationship with glyphosate and/or RR plants can be ruled out as a threat to crop and
animal production and human health.
It is urgent to examine whether the side-effects of glyphosate use may have facilitated the
growth of this pathogen, or allowed it to cause greater harm to weakened plant and
animal hosts. It is well-documented that glyphosate promotes soil pathogens and is
already implicated with the increase of more than 40 plant diseases; it dismantles plant
defenses by chelating vital nutrients; and it reduces the bioavailability of nutrients in
feed, which in turn can cause animal disorders. To properly evaluate these factors, we
request access to the relevant USDA data.
I have studied plant pathogens for more than 50 years. We are now seeing an
unprecedented trend of increasing plant and animal diseases and disorders. This pathogen
may be instrumental to understanding and solving this problem. It deserves immediate
attention with significant resources to avoid a general collapse of our critical agricultural
infrastructure.
Sincerely,
COL (Ret.) Don M. Huber
Emeritus Professor, Purdue University
APS Coordinator, USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System (NPDRS)